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Family’s Home Raided over Facebook Photo of Child’s Rifle

New Jersey police and Dept. of Children and Families officials raided the home of a firearms instructor and demanded to see his guns after he posted a Facebook photo of his 11-year-old son holding a rifle.

“Someone called family services about the photo,” said Evan Nappen,an attorney representing Shawn Moore. “It led to an incredible, heavy-handed raid on his house. They wanted to see his gun safe, his guns and search his house. They even threatened to take his kids.”

Moore was not arrested or charged.

This is the Facebook photo that led to the police raid.

A Dept. of Children and Families spokesperson told Fox News they could not confirm or deny an investigation or raid had taken place due to government regulations.

“The department has a child abuse hotline for the state of New Jersey and anybody can make a call to that hotline,” spokesperson Kristen Brown said. “We are required to follow up on every single allegation that comes into the central registry.”

Moore, of Carneys Point, is a certified firearms instructor for the National Rifle Association, an NRA range safety officer and a New Jersey hunter education instructor.

He recently posted a photograph of his son wearing camouflage and holding his new .22 rifle. The child has a New Jersey hunting license and recently passed the state’s hunter safety course.

“If you look at the picture, his finger isn’t even on the trigger – which is proper,” Nappen told Fox News. “If half of Hollywood could follow that rule we’d be thankful.”

Brown said their role is not to go out and search Facebook for photos of children holding weapons.

“In general our role is to investigate allegations of child abuse and neglect,” she said.

The family’s trouble started Saturday night when Moore received an urgent text message from his wife. The Carneys Point Police Dept. and the New Jersey Dept. of Children and Families had raided their home.

Moore immediately called Nappen and rushed home to find officers demanding to check his guns and his gun safe.

Instead, he handed the cell phone to one of the officers – so they could speak with Nappen.

“If you have a warrant, you’re coming in,” Nappen told the officers. “If you don’t, then you’re not. That’s what privacy is all about.”

With his attorney on speaker phone, Moore instructed the officers to leave his home.

“I was told I was being unreasonable and that I was acting suspicious because I wouldn’t open my safe,” Moore wrote on the Delaware Open Carry website. “They told me they were going to get a search warrant. I told them to go ahead.”

Moore took this photo of police outside his home.

Nappen told Fox News the police wanted to inventory his firearms.

“”We said no way, it’s not happening,” he said. “This is a guy who is completely credentialed and his son is also credentialed.”

The attorney said police eventually left and never returned.

“He has a Fourth Amendment right and he’s not going to give up his Fourth Amendment right or his Second Amendment right,” he said. “They didn’t have a warrant – so see you later.”

Brown told Fox News that it’s “prudent and wise to protect children.”

“In many cases we may follow up on something and we don’t find any problems and the case is closed,” she said.

But the person who reported the false allegations of abuse cannot be held liable, she noted.

“You can’t be prosecuted for making an allegation of child abuse –even if it’s false,” she said.

Nappen said what happened to the Moore family should serve as a warning to gun owners across the nation.

“To make someone go through this because he posted a picture of his son with a .22 rifle on his Facebook page is pretty outrageous,” he said. “Does that mean that anyone who posts a picture like that has to consent to a home inspection and a gun inspection? I don’t think so.”

Nappen said they are considering taking legal action against the state for the late night raid.

This is just plain stupid..What an awful thing to do to a family and child..

Had this ended differently I could agree. I think the message was loud and clear: Be responsible and you have nothing to worry about.

What do you mean, ended differently? The man and the boy are being responsible with their gun and they still got crap from the police

Okay, so they were investigated. What harm came from it besides a bit of an inconvenience?

Nappen told Fox News the police wanted to inventory his firearms.

“”We said no way, it’s not happening,” he said. “This is a guy who is completely credentialed and his son is also credentialed.”

The attorney said police eventually left and never returned.

“He has a Fourth Amendment right and he’s not going to give up his Fourth Amendment right or his Second Amendment right,” he said. “They didn’t have a warrant – so see you later.”

Brown told Fox News that it’s “prudent and wise to protect children.”

Inconvenient? Really? How about harassment? They had no real reason to be at that house. I am sure there are other crimes or things to investigate. My girls have been shooting guns since age 4 and there is no way in hell I would ever let the police enter my home without a warrant. Calling CPS...GMAFB. Just because some idiot got their panties in a wad over a kid holding a gun doesn't give them a right to visit. What a waste of time, resources and so on.

This is how we become a police state, our neighbors are watching us, sad!

Why don't we do something about child abouse and drugs binging sold on street corners?

Police piss me off on a regular basis. Not that I am being harassed or have been harassed by the police. I'm never shocked when police harass easy targets, never. At the same time I'm shocked at how many people get sue happy when police investigate tips and potential suspects of crimes. It's their job. As long as the questioning is on the up and up and people aren't being erroneously accused or framed I don't see the big deal.

This is just plain stupid..What an awful thing to do to a family and child..

Had this ended differently I could agree. I think the message was loud and clear: Be responsible and you have nothing to worry about.

What do you mean, ended differently? The man and the boy are being responsible with their gun and they still got crap from the police

Okay, so they were investigated. What harm came from it besides a bit of an inconvenience?

Nappen told Fox News the police wanted to inventory his firearms.

“”We said no way, it’s not happening,” he said. “This is a guy who is completely credentialed and his son is also credentialed.”

The attorney said police eventually left and never returned.

“He has a Fourth Amendment right and he’s not going to give up his Fourth Amendment right or his Second Amendment right,” he said. “They didn’t have a warrant – so see you later.”

Brown told Fox News that it’s “prudent and wise to protect children.”

Inconvenient? Really? How about harassment? They had no real reason to be at that house. I am sure there are other crimes or things to investigate. My girls have been shooting guns since age 4 and there is no way in hell I would ever let the police enter my home without a warrant. Calling CPS...GMAFB. Just because some idiot got their panties in a wad over a kid holding a gun doesn't give them a right to visit. What a waste of time, resources and so on.

Protect the children, whatever.

How is it harassment? They came, they asked, they were declined, they left and never returned. Where did the harassment come in?

So basically, there never was a "raid" since the officers did not get permission to enter his home. They just showed up and asked to enter and he told them no, correct? And they left and didn't come back. Where's the raid?

I agree with you. I am very careful with everything I put on FB but I am surprised at how many aren't.

Quoting meriana:

While I can understand his taking a picture of his son with his new rifle, with all the stuff about guns these days, posting it on a site like facebook just wasn't the wisest choice. People really need to be careful about what they post on the internet.

This is just plain stupid..What an awful thing to do to a family and child..

Had this ended differently I could agree. I think the message was loud and clear: Be responsible and you have nothing to worry about.

What do you mean, ended differently? The man and the boy are being responsible with their gun and they still got crap from the police

Okay, so they were investigated. What harm came from it besides a bit of an inconvenience?

Nappen told Fox News the police wanted to inventory his firearms.

“”We said no way, it’s not happening,” he said. “This is a guy who is completely credentialed and his son is also credentialed.”

The attorney said police eventually left and never returned.

“He has a Fourth Amendment right and he’s not going to give up his Fourth Amendment right or his Second Amendment right,” he said. “They didn’t have a warrant – so see you later.”

Brown told Fox News that it’s “prudent and wise to protect children.”

Inconvenient? Really? How about harassment? They had no real reason to be at that house. I am sure there are other crimes or things to investigate. My girls have been shooting guns since age 4 and there is no way in hell I would ever let the police enter my home without a warrant. Calling CPS...GMAFB. Just because some idiot got their panties in a wad over a kid holding a gun doesn't give them a right to visit. What a waste of time, resources and so on.

Protect the children, whatever.

How is it harassment? They came, they asked, they were declined, they left and never returned. Where did the harassment come in?

Here let me re-post the statements. Pretty sure when someone threatens to take your kids b/c they can't see your guns...harassment. The news this morning stated they were there for over an hour arguing with this man. It isn't like they asked, he said no and they left. It is more than that.

It led to an incredible, heavy-handed raid on his house. They wanted to see his gun safe, his guns and search his house. They even threatened to take his kids.”

He had to call his attorney.

With his attorney on speaker phone, Moore instructed the officers to leave his home.

“I was told I was being unreasonable and that I was acting suspicious because I wouldn’t open my safe,” Moore wrote on the Delaware Open Carry website. “They told me they were going to get a search warrant. I told them to go ahead.”

Maybe in your world this isn't harassment but in mine it is. There is nothing in that picture that says that this kid is neglected or that he is a public threat. In fact his finger isn't even on the trigger. The only reason they couldn't get a warrant is b/c no judge in their right mind would sign something so stupid. I hope he sues the hell out of them.

I think it's a catch 22. People get pissed when the police/CPS don't follow up on something...say they were negligent, not doing their job, if only they had followed through and gone to the house, etc....

Then, people get pissed when they DO follow up on a call/lead. They did their job. Was this family doing anything wrong? Nope (at least not that we know of lol). What if they were? It seems, at least for now that the situation is over. It sucks for the family yes, but it is what it is.

The police/CPS are damned if they do, damned if they don't. They didn't just randomly pick this family, they got a call about them.

This is just plain stupid..What an awful thing to do to a family and child..

Had this ended differently I could agree. I think the message was loud and clear: Be responsible and you have nothing to worry about.

What do you mean, ended differently? The man and the boy are being responsible with their gun and they still got crap from the police

Okay, so they were investigated. What harm came from it besides a bit of an inconvenience?

Nappen told Fox News the police wanted to inventory his firearms.

“”We said no way, it’s not happening,” he said. “This is a guy who is completely credentialed and his son is also credentialed.”

The attorney said police eventually left and never returned.

“He has a Fourth Amendment right and he’s not going to give up his Fourth Amendment right or his Second Amendment right,” he said. “They didn’t have a warrant – so see you later.”

Brown told Fox News that it’s “prudent and wise to protect children.”

Inconvenient? Really? How about harassment? They had no real reason to be at that house. I am sure there are other crimes or things to investigate. My girls have been shooting guns since age 4 and there is no way in hell I would ever let the police enter my home without a warrant. Calling CPS...GMAFB. Just because some idiot got their panties in a wad over a kid holding a gun doesn't give them a right to visit. What a waste of time, resources and so on.

Protect the children, whatever.

How is it harassment? They came, they asked, they were declined, they left and never returned. Where did the harassment come in?

Here let me re-post the statements. Pretty sure when someone threatens to take your kids b/c they can't see your guns...harassment. The news this morning stated they were there for over an hour arguing with this man. It isn't like they asked, he said no and they left. It is more than that.

It led to an incredible, heavy-handed raid on his house. They wanted to see his gun safe, his guns and search his house. They even threatened to take his kids.”

He had to call his attorney.

With his attorney on speaker phone, Moore instructed the officers to leave his home.

“I was told I was being unreasonable and that I was acting suspicious because I wouldn’t open my safe,” Moore wrote on the Delaware Open Carry website. “They told me they were going to get a search warrant. I told them to go ahead.”

Maybe in your world this isn't harassment but in mine it is. There is nothing in that picture that says that this kid is neglected or that he is a public threat. In fact his finger isn't even on the trigger. The only reason they couldn't get a warrant is b/c no judge in their right mind would sign something so stupid. I hope he sues the hell out of them.

As I said in a previous reply, the police piss me off regularly. However, I find that this man and his due diligence prevented the police from actually strong arming him. They left, they never returned. I'm disgusted and outraged at the audacity of the person who reported him. I'm relieved that the police did their jobs and followed through on the complaint. I'm also relieved they left and have yet to return. You bet your ass I'd be mad as hell if that had happened to me. I'd complain and tell every person who would listen. I wouldn't sue. But, you know, it's that man's tax dollars on the line if he wants to sue the local police. :shurg:

Send me email updates about messages I've received on the site and the latest news from The CafeMom Team.
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